Lord Ronnie Fearn has called for Sefton Council to reconsider the site of two new Southport waste facilities

LORD Ronnie Fearn has called for Sefton Council to reconsider siting two new waste facilities near homes in High Park.

One of the controversial sites is adjacent to Russell Road recreation ground, and the second is in the shadow of the Gasometer by Crowland Close/Crowland Street.

Neither site was put forward initially, but both were put onto the shortlist of nine at the last minute after concern by the council that all the sites deemed most suitable were all in the Bootle area.

The proposed site at 55 Crowland Street lies adjacent to a housing estate.

Lord Fearn called for alternative sites in Southport to be considered instead.

The Norwood Ward councillor said at a council cabinet meeting on Thursday that over the past 50 years the area had worsened due to a variety of uses.

He told the Midweek Visiter that rubbish tips, industrial estates, traffic nuisance, heavy lorries and gas works were all close to people’s houses.

He said council decisions had also “clogged up the traffic system – in spite of appeals, by choosing the wrong route into Southport from the new park and ride.”

The High Park sites are listed as suitable for ‘waste transfer stations’ where waste would be stored before redistribution, or as recycling plants.

At an earlier meeting he was supported by fellow Norwood Ward councillor Cllr David Sumner who said traffic problems were already apparent in the area.

Cllr Sumner said: “The problem goes back years – the police are aware of it.”

The preparation of a waste development plan is a mandatory requirement of the six districts across Merseyside by central Government and European Union legislation.